There once lived a wise king with a beautiful daughter. The time came for her to be married and the king wanted her to have a variety of choices. So he advertised for prospective suitors to present themselves at the palace for selection. There were just two requirements: the men had to have a good character (the king's preference) and be good looking (the princess's choice).
Among the people who saw the advertisement was a thief. Although he had once been handsome, his life of robbery and lying had marked his face. Lines of deceit and betrayal had disfigured his looks. But his natural cunning was aroused by the idea of competing for the princess's hand. “I can find a way," he thought, "to beat out the others." Secretly he visited a famous maker of masks and had one made that transformed his face back to the innocence of his youth.
With the help of the mask, the thief progressed rapidly through the early rounds of selection. At first, he would come home and laugh at how easily he had deceived the king's advisers.
"How foolish they are!" he told himself as he looked at his real face in the mirror each night. After a few weeks, however, he realized that matters were getting out of hand. He had become one of the twenty final candidates, all of whom had their pictures published in the newspapers. Reporters began standing outside his door and asking him questions about his private life, which, of course, he was most reluctant to talk about! He pretended to be humble, saying that he expected to be eliminated and that his personal life was unimportant. He could no longer take off his mask as he lived in terror that his true identity would be revealed.
The day came when he was notified that he had been selected to be one of the three final candidates. Realizing that if his true identity were discovered he surely would be executed, he decided to leave the country the following morning. But as he came out of his house, he was greeted by two soldiers sent by the king to be his bodyguards. It was too late!
On the final day of the contest, the thief walked to the castle for what he was sure would be the last time. He hoped desperately that he would lose to one of the other candidates, but it was not to be. The princess had already made up her mind. She talked to the other candidates just long enough to be polite. Then she took him by the arm and told her father, "This is the one!"
In a last attempt to avoid disclosure, the thief took the king aside. "Your Majesty," he said, “I am honored, but I need time to prepare for such a huge responsibility. Can the wedding be delayed by one year?" The king said yes. Of course, the thief's real intent was to run away as soon as he could. However, this proved to be impossible. He was now the second most famous man in the kingdom. Crowds surrounded his house, hoping for a glimpse of the future king. He had to do many charitable works and help the poor in his position as a nobleman. He had to be virtuous and honorable, as a future king would have to be. For a whole year he lived as a noble person on the surface, all the time squirming inside at the knowledge of his own corruption.
Finally, the day came for the royal wedding. Certain that he would be found out and have to face death, the thief went to the palace with a heavy heart. When the princess came to greet him, he asked to be with her for a short time alone.
As they went into a small room, she thought, "Maybe now he will kiss me!" Instead, he threw himself at her feet.
"Your Royal Highness," he cried, “I have a terrible confession to make. Can you forgive me!" And he told her the whole story of his deception: how he was not a handsome prince at all, but an ugly thief. When he had finished, there was a long moment of silence. Finally, the princess spoke. "I'll forgive you," she said, "but only on one condition. Take off your mask and show me who you really are!"
It was the most he could do to bring his hands to his face. Trembling with shame and fear, he pulled the mask off and turned to face the princess.
"What kind of stupid trick is this?" shouted the princess. "What are you trying to do to me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Take this!" she said, and gave him a mirror. He looked—and looked again. Then, he looked at the mask and into the mirror again. The faces were identical!
By living as a good and righteous man for an entire year, he had changed. Since his actions had been good, he had become good without noticing it. There was no doubt: he had changed.
Fortunately, the princess was now beginning to see the funny side of the whole affair. "Come on!" she said "Let's pretend this never happened." And the new couple went off to see the king. Many years later, after they had become the new king and queen, people considered the former thief the wisest and most kind king they had ever had.
Objectives
Cognitive:Students will understand that people can change through their actions. Affective: Students will want to take good actions in order to become better people. Behavioral: Students will debate whether a person can change for the better through his or her actions. Students will describe ways in which they have changed as a result of their actions.
Discussion
Can a leopard change his spots? No, but people can. In fact, human beings are known to be very adaptable creatures. We are very much influenced by our environment—for good and bad. In Nazi Germany, for example, people did many horrendous things under Adolf Hitler they never would have done on their own. They changed into people who were willing to do evil and did it. On the other hand, many people in India made noble sacrifices for the cause of independence as part of the nonviolent movement led by Mahatma Gandhi—something most would never have done on their own. They became good people because there was an environment encouraging them to be good.
The main point of the story is that a bad person who tries to live a noble life can, step-by-step, without even noticing it, become noble. What do you think? Is this really possible?
The great Greek philosopher Aristotle said"We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts." The question is whether a person can truly be changed by good deeds, or if a person is destined to remain evil. There are those who will say that a person cannot fundamentally change character. If someone is bad, he or she will always be bad. Even if he or she were to live as the thief in the story did for a whole year, doing good deeds, the basic evil nature is just waiting for the moment to come out again. Given the chance, he would immediately go back to being evil.
Then there are those who believe that people can change. This viewpoint says that everyone wants to be happy. Evil people are those who think that happiness comes by fulfilling their selfish desires. They cannot imagine how someone could be happy by sacrificing and living for the sake of others. To these people, sacrificing means simply giving up something without getting anything in return. However, if such people were to experience the joy of an unselfish lifestyle, then they would be motivated to change. The attractiveness of being good would far outweigh any benefit they may have experienced by living selfishly.
In daily life we experience adaptation all the time. For example, imagine you are talking about a political candidate with your friends. You support a candidate they don't like. Because they are your friends, you listen to their opinions and try to see their points. You may even come to agree with them over time. This is adaptation. Imagine another situation. You are asked to introduce an unpopular teacher at an assembly and you have to say something nice about him. You would have to adapt your words and thoughts to suit the occasion, finding nice things to say about the person and meaning them or else the whole occasion could be ruined. (You might even find yourself being influenced by your own positive words about him and liking him after all!) Adaptation or conformity to society's expectations is a fact of life that has survival value. Depending on the circumstances and direction, it can be a very good thing. In any case, it shows clearly that people can, and do, change.
In this lesson's story, although the thief entered the competition for the hand of the princess as a joke, it became something he did not intend—an opportunity to change himself for the better. Although he did not see it that way, he was changing. By acting good, he was becoming good. This is confirmed by the fact that, after a year, there was no difference between the mask and his own face. He had indeed changed.
Questions for Reflection
1. Do you believe it is possible for a person to change his or her character, or is a person destined to be a certain way?
2. Can you think of some examples of people who were changed by their circumstances?
3. Why do some people seem to be unable to change?
4. What do you think are the positive and negative aspects of adapting one's character to circumstances?
5. How does a person feel when he tries to adapt to an environment that feels unnatural to him?
6. Is it possible, as in the story in this lesson, to go into a situation with an evil motivation and find some sincerity and truth along the way?
Circumstances and Internal Change
Can you think of an experience in which you changed in some way as a result of the way you responded to or dealt with a situation? Did you change for the better or for the worse? Why did it happen? Specifically, how did your actions lead to an internal change?
Take it to Court
Imagine that in the above story, instead of forgiving and accepting the thief right away, the princess decided the thief must stand trial for deceiving her and the king. What do you think are the arguments in favor of his conviction? In favor of finding him innocent? How does your story end?
From: Discovering the Real Me, Book 12. For book orders, click here.
Resources
Movie on a Similar Theme: Groundhog DayA 1993 American comedy film in which Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an egocentric TV weatherman who, during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. After indulging in hedonism and numerous suicide attempts, he begins to reexamine his life and priorities.
Comments
Share your experiences by clicking on the "Discussion" box at the top of this page and then clicking on "+ New Post." Your comments will appear below.
Story
Table of Contents
Among the people who saw the advertisement was a thief. Although he had once been handsome, his life of robbery and lying had marked his face. Lines of deceit and betrayal had disfigured his looks. But his natural cunning was aroused by the idea of competing for the princess's hand. “I can find a way," he thought, "to beat out the others." Secretly he visited a famous maker of masks and had one made that transformed his face back to the innocence of his youth.
With the help of the mask, the thief progressed rapidly through the early rounds of selection. At first, he would come home and laugh at how easily he had deceived the king's advisers.
"How foolish they are!" he told himself as he looked at his real face in the mirror each night. After a few weeks, however, he realized that matters were getting out of hand. He had become one of the twenty final candidates, all of whom had their pictures published in the newspapers. Reporters began standing outside his door and asking him questions about his private life, which, of course, he was most reluctant to talk about! He pretended to be humble, saying that he expected to be eliminated and that his personal life was unimportant. He could no longer take off his mask as he lived in terror that his true identity would be revealed.
The day came when he was notified that he had been selected to be one of the three final candidates. Realizing that if his true identity were discovered he surely would be executed, he decided to leave the country the following morning. But as he came out of his house, he was greeted by two soldiers sent by the king to be his bodyguards. It was too late!
On the final day of the contest, the thief walked to the castle for what he was sure would be the last time. He hoped desperately that he would lose to one of the other candidates, but it was not to be. The princess had already made up her mind. She talked to the other candidates just long enough to be polite. Then she took him by the arm and told her father, "This is the one!"
In a last attempt to avoid disclosure, the thief took the king aside. "Your Majesty," he said, “I am honored, but I need time to prepare for such a huge responsibility. Can the wedding be delayed by one year?" The king said yes. Of course, the thief's real intent was to run away as soon as he could. However, this proved to be impossible. He was now the second most famous man in the kingdom. Crowds surrounded his house, hoping for a glimpse of the future king. He had to do many charitable works and help the poor in his position as a nobleman. He had to be virtuous and honorable, as a future king would have to be. For a whole year he lived as a noble person on the surface, all the time squirming inside at the knowledge of his own corruption.
Finally, the day came for the royal wedding. Certain that he would be found out and have to face death, the thief went to the palace with a heavy heart. When the princess came to greet him, he asked to be with her for a short time alone.
As they went into a small room, she thought, "Maybe now he will kiss me!" Instead, he threw himself at her feet.
"Your Royal Highness," he cried, “I have a terrible confession to make. Can you forgive me!" And he told her the whole story of his deception: how he was not a handsome prince at all, but an ugly thief. When he had finished, there was a long moment of silence. Finally, the princess spoke. "I'll forgive you," she said, "but only on one condition. Take off your mask and show me who you really are!"
It was the most he could do to bring his hands to his face. Trembling with shame and fear, he pulled the mask off and turned to face the princess.
"What kind of stupid trick is this?" shouted the princess. "What are you trying to do to me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Take this!" she said, and gave him a mirror. He looked—and looked again. Then, he looked at the mask and into the mirror again. The faces were identical!
By living as a good and righteous man for an entire year, he had changed. Since his actions had been good, he had become good without noticing it. There was no doubt: he had changed.
Fortunately, the princess was now beginning to see the funny side of the whole affair. "Come on!" she said "Let's pretend this never happened." And the new couple went off to see the king. Many years later, after they had become the new king and queen, people considered the former thief the wisest and most kind king they had ever had.
Objectives
Cognitive: Students will understand that people can change through their actions.Affective: Students will want to take good actions in order to become better people.
Behavioral: Students will debate whether a person can change for the better through his or her actions. Students will describe ways in which they have changed as a result of their actions.
Discussion
The main point of the story is that a bad person who tries to live a noble life can, step-by-step, without even noticing it, become noble. What do you think? Is this really possible?
The great Greek philosopher Aristotle said "We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts."
The question is whether a person can truly be changed by good deeds, or if a person is destined to remain evil. There are those who will say that a person cannot fundamentally change character. If someone is bad, he or she will always be bad. Even if he or she were to live as the thief in the story did for a whole year, doing good deeds, the basic evil nature is just waiting for the moment to come out again. Given the chance, he would immediately go back to being evil.
Then there are those who believe that people can change. This viewpoint says that everyone wants to be happy. Evil people are those who think that happiness comes by fulfilling their selfish desires. They cannot imagine how someone could be happy by sacrificing and living for the sake of others. To these people, sacrificing means simply giving up something without getting anything in return. However, if such people were to experience the joy of an unselfish lifestyle, then they would be motivated to change. The attractiveness of being good would far outweigh any benefit they may have experienced by living selfishly.
In daily life we experience adaptation all the time. For example, imagine you are talking about a political candidate with your friends. You support a candidate they don't like. Because they are your friends, you listen to their opinions and try to see their points. You may even come to agree with them over time. This is adaptation. Imagine another situation. You are asked to introduce an unpopular teacher at an assembly and you have to say something nice about him. You would have to adapt your words and thoughts to suit the occasion, finding nice things to say about the person and meaning them or else the whole occasion could be ruined. (You might even find yourself being influenced by your own positive words about him and liking him after all!) Adaptation or conformity to society's expectations is a fact of life that has survival value. Depending on the circumstances and direction, it can be a very good thing. In any case, it shows clearly that people can, and do, change.
In this lesson's story, although the thief entered the competition for the hand of the princess as a joke, it became something he did not intend—an opportunity to change himself for the better. Although he did not see it that way, he was changing. By acting good, he was becoming good. This is confirmed by the fact that, after a year, there was no difference between the mask and his own face. He had indeed changed.
Questions for Reflection
1. Do you believe it is possible for a person to change his or her character, or is a person destined to be a certain way?
2. Can you think of some examples of people who were changed by their circumstances?
3. Why do some people seem to be unable to change?
4. What do you think are the positive and negative aspects of adapting one's character to circumstances?
5. How does a person feel when he tries to adapt to an environment that feels unnatural to him?
6. Is it possible, as in the story in this lesson, to go into a situation with an evil motivation and find some sincerity and truth along the way?
Circumstances and Internal Change
Can you think of an experience in which you changed in some way as a result of the way you responded to or dealt with a situation? Did you change for the better or for the worse? Why did it happen? Specifically, how did your actions lead to an internal change?
Take it to Court
Imagine that in the above story, instead of forgiving and accepting the thief right away, the princess decided the thief must stand trial for deceiving her and the king. What do you think are the arguments in favor of his conviction? In favor of finding him innocent? How does your story end?From: Discovering the Real Me, Book 12. For book orders, click here.
Resources
Movie on a Similar Theme: Groundhog Day A 1993 American comedy film in which Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an egocentric TV weatherman who, during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. After indulging in hedonism and numerous suicide attempts, he begins to reexamine his life and priorities.Comments
Share your experiences by clicking on the "Discussion" box at the top of this page and then clicking on "+ New Post." Your comments will appear below.